The Cursed Ring of the Puppeteer
by iyoku-ishi
Summary: A normal everyday thing where the Inuyasha gang has to retrieve jewel shards...until someone starts possessing Inuyasha with a curse and a ring...


Alright, alright, so it's only one chapter and it's a long one…actually, it was meant to be 3 chapters, but the chapters were too short, so I converged them into one long one…please read it and review…yes, I've made Inuyasha quite nasty in here evil cackle….great, now you think I'm delusional…well, too bad. Also, when you review, please go easy on me cause this is my first fan fiction story and yeah…well, enjoy! The sequel is: The Leftover Curse- Betrayal It may not be up for a while because I've already got it written down, but I need to type it up. Ok, NOW enjoy!

Part 1:

Sniff sniff "Yup, it's definitely a demon." Inuyasha stood up. "The stench is everywhere. I can't tell which direction it's coming from." Kagome suddenly turned and faced north.

"I sense the Shikon jewel! It's coming this way." She frowned. "Actually…there seems to be more than one shard." Kagome started running.

"Are you sure there is more than one jewel shard?" Miroku asked, catching up with Kagome.

"Yeah," she shouted back. "There's more than one alright." Inuyasha jumped ahead of them and sprinted fast.

"The more the better! That way we don't have to run all over the place looking for them." Sango glanced at him.

"Inuyasha, you do know that the more jewel shards there are, the more powerful this demon will be." Inuyasha smirked.

"I can handle any demon. It doesn't matter how many jewel shards it has, I'll kill it and take 'em all!" Shippo rolled his eyes.

"I don't doubt it," he muttered. Inuyasha stopped suddenly. Kagome gasped.

"What the-?" Inuyasha stared at the demon.

"What is that?" Sango asked, gaping at the demon. The thing was huge. It towered above the trees of the forest behind it. It was a pale light beige, with big overlapping plates covering its entire body. It was long and wide, with gigantic translucent wings folded over its body. Long, thin legs waved everywhere.

"It's a grasshopper," Miroku stated, also staring at the beast. The grasshopper demon was standing in a low valley. A screaming woman was held in one of its six legs. The demon was lifting the woman to its mouth. A group of humans stood in a case of white, hard silk. They were watching the screaming woman, too terrified to utter a sound.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" Inuyasha yelled, jumping down into the valley. The demon turned its head towards Inuyasha. It opened its mouth and a cloud of purple smoke came out. Inuyasha covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve.

"Damn!" he swore. He landed on the ground and caught the falling woman. Kagome watched the save. She noticed something glowing in the bug's mouth.

"Inuyasha," she called, "there's a jewel shard in its mouth!"

"Got it!" Inuyasha put the unconscious woman down on the ground. "Here goes." He pulled out the Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha took a running leap and sailing straight as the bug's mouth. "WIND SCAR!" The wind scar split the whole bug open. The halves of its body fell on the ground, smoking. Inuyasha caught the jewel shard in midair and landed. He looked at it. "I thought you said there was more than one jewel shard!" Inuyasha yelled, scowling up at Kagome.

"Kagome, do you see any more jewel shards?" Miroku asked.

"Nope." Kagome scanned the valley. "That's strange. I don't see any, but I still sense some others." She frowned. "Now I can't tell where they're coming from."

The man had seen Inuyasha slay the demon. "Hmmm…this demon's powerful. I must have him." A spider scurried to the man and did a series of clicks. "What? He's a half-demon?" The man stroked his chin thoughtfully as he watched Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara help the trapped people. "No matter. He's still powerful. I must have him. But the girl…she can see the jewel shards. She may be helpful too." The man took a ring out of his robes. It was silver, with blood-red stones set into it. He gave it to the spider. "I want you to put this onto one of the half-demon's fingers. Have the other spider demons stir up a commotion." The spider clicked. It ran out of the forest, followed by hundreds of others.

Scuttle scuttle click click Kirara turned around. In a flash, she turned into her big form. Sango readied her weapon.

"What are those?" Kagome shuddered. "They aren't…they aren't SPIDERS…are they?" Inuyasha's eye twitched.

"Yeah." The spiders started climbing over Kirara and Shippo.

"AIEEEEEEEEEE!" Shippo disappeared under a crowd of spiders.

"Shippo!" Miroku started batting the spiders away. Sango was also hitting spiders, although they still climbed up her.

"Uhhhh!" Inuyasha tried throwing the spiders off him, but the spiders clung on. "Get…off!" Inuyasha grunted. He suddenly felt something cold jammed over his finger. He started to look, but spiders swarmed all over him.

"Eeeeee! I hate spiders!" Kagome started running. The biggest spider clicked, and all the spiders ran back into the forest and disappeared.

"What were they doing?" Sango asked, staring at the quiet forest where the demons had gone.

"I dunno." Inuyasha shook his clothes. Shippo noticed something glinting on Inuyasha's finger.

"Inuyasha, what's that on your finger?"

"What?" Inuyasha brought his right hand up and looked.

"How did a ring get on your finger?" Miroku looked puzzled. Inuyasha frowned.

"I think the biggest spider stuck it on me."

"Why would it want to do that?" Sango looked closely at the ring.

"How the heck would I know?" Kagome ran over.

"Take it off Inuyasha. Let's see it." Inuyasha grasped the ring and pulled. It didn't budge. He tugged and twisted it was hard as he could.

"It's…not…coming…off," Inuyasha strained.

"How can that be?" Kagome looked at the ring dubiously.

"That's impossible," Miroku agreed. Inuyasha flung his hand in front of Miroku's face. Miroku flinched.

"Take it off then! I don't want it. It feels…weird." Miroku took hold of the ring and leaned back. He pulled and pulled.

"You're right," he panted. "It won't come off." They all stared at the ring.

The man laughed. "Now I have him. Nobody escapes me, no matter how powerful they are, for I am the Puppeteer!"

Inuyasha examined the ring in the flickering firelight. "Inuyasha," Miroku said suddenly. "Remember how you said earlier this afternoon that the ring felt…well, weird? How…what does it feel like, exactly?" Inuyasha flexed his fingers.

"It feels…I don't really know how to explain it…" He stared at the ring again. "I guess it feels kind of…cold." Miroku sighed.

"Of course it feels cold. It's metal." Inuyasha glowered at him.

"No! That's not what I meant." Miroku looked at him.

"What do you mean then?"

"I told you it's hard to explain! It feels…weirdly cold. Like, I don't know, unnatural." Shippo climbed into Kagome's lap.

"Maybe it's enchanted," he suggested.

"If it's enchanted, something would've happened by now," Sango contradicted. Inuyasha turned to Kagome.

"Do you still sense the jewel shards?" Kagome nodded. Inuyasha stretched out and leaned back against the hill. "Good. We'll find them tomorrow." He closed his eyes. The ring glowed softly for a second. Nobody noticed, because they all blew out the fire and lay down to sleep.

Part 2:

Inuyasha dreamed. He was running in darkness. He couldn't see a thing. Suddenly, somebody whispered in his ear.

"Kagome? Is that you?" Inuyasha turned around. He waved his arms in front of him, but all he hit was thin air. "Miroku? Sango? Shippo?" The voice sounded again, but louder this time. "Bring me them…" Inuyasha spun around.

"Bring you what? Who's there?" Silence. Then…

"Bring me them…bring me…the jewel shards…" Inuyasha felt dizzy.

"What's happening?" he thought. "Why…am I…growing…weak?" He slumped to the ground and darkness enveloped him.

Inuyasha opened his eyes. The fire was put out. He looked around the camp. Everyone was asleep. Inuyasha's eyes were drawn to the little bottle hanging around Kagome's neck.

"I've gotta bring him the jewel shards," he remembered. Inuyasha got up. He gently lifted the bottle on its string from around Kagome's neck. Then he set off at a running sprint into the forest. A masked man stepped out in front of Inuyasha. He held out his hand. Inuyasha put the bottle in the man's hand.

"Good. Now go back to the camp and act as though you were asleep when the jewel shards were taken." Inuyasha nodded, and returned to the camp.

"The jewel shards! They're gone!" Kagome searched frantically, throwing the contents of her backpack all over the place. Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara woke up.

"What? The jewel shards are gone?" Miroku looked around the camp.

"They must've been taken by one of the spider demons," Sango said.

"Yeah, that would explain why nobody woke up last night," Shippo agreed. Inuyasha stood up.

"We'll split up and search for them. Miroku, you go with Sango. Shippo, you go with Kirara. I'll go with Kagome." Everyone nodded.

"It's sure creepy in here." Kagome kept close to Inuyasha, who strolled through the foliage. Inuyasha didn't reply. "Inuyasha?" Kagome looked uncertainly at him. "Inuyasha," she repeated, "you haven't said anything since we entered the forest. What's wrong?" No reply. "Inuyasha?" Inuyasha turned around. His eyes were glowing strangely. Kagome stepped back. "Inuyasha, what-?" Inuyasha picked up Kagome and started running. "Inuyasha? Inuyasha, wha-what are you doing? Where are we going?" Inuyasha's fingers tightened around Kagome. Kagome started screaming. Inuyasha's right hand clamped over Kagome's mouth. Her eyes widened. The blood-red stones on the ring that was fixed on Inuyasha's finger were glowing. "What's happening?" Kagome thought. Then, with a jolt, Inuyasha stopped. Kagome looked up into the masked face of a man.

"So…you're the girl that can see jewel shards." Inuyasha dumped Kagome on the ground.

"Oww!" Kagome yelped. Inuyasha took long, strong ropes and bound Kagome's ankles and wrists. Kagome lay still, afraid to move.

"Inuyasha, I want you to kill the other two humans. Kill the monk first, before he has a chance to suck you into his wind tunnel. After you've killed the monk, kill the demon-slayer. Then come back to me. But don't go now; there are still a few things I need you to do."

"What have you done to him?" Kagome demanded.

"You see the ring on his finger? It allows me to control his every move. He will do whatever I wish. He will even hurt you if I tell him to. See?" The masked man turned to Inuyasha.

"Hurt the girl so she will not be able to escape if she manages to break the ropes." Inuyasha stood in front of Kagome. Kagome looked up into his face, terrified. His face was empty of any emotion.

"He doesn't even recognize me," Kagome realized. Inuyasha bent down and slashed Kagome's left leg. Kagome shrieked as blood streamed from her leg. Inuyasha's claws were soaked in it. The man laughed.

"Now, the other one." Inuyasha raised his hand, preparing to strike.

"Inuyasha," Kagome gasped. "SIT!" THUMP Inuyasha slammed into the ground.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Inuyasha yelled, getting up and rubbing his head. He suddenly realized that he was smearing blood all over his hair. "What the-?" He looked at Kagome. "Kagome…what…what happened to you?" Inuyasha looked at his hand. He looked at Kagome's wounded leg. "Kagome…why…why are my claws covered in your blood?" He ran over to her. Kagome's eyes filled with tears.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered. Tears started running down her face. "Inuyasha…I thought…I thought I had lost you…" Inuyasha put his arm around her.

"Kagome…why did I attack you? What happened? Why are we here?" He looked around the place and spotted the masked man. He got up. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked harshly. The man looked astounded.

"How could…how could she…how could she break the spell?"

"Inuyasha…he…he was the one…he was controlling you…" Inuyasha turned to look at Kagome. He turned back to the man.

"So," he said, his eyes hardening. "You controlled me with THIS." Inuyasha grasped the ring and tried to pull it off. It didn't budge. "I'll kill you," Inuyasha snarled, starting to run towards the masked man. The man smiled again.

"It won't come off unless I take it off. If others see it on you, they can control you too. If you kill me…" the man laughed. "Well…if you kill me, that ring will never come off, unless you cut off your finger, that is. But I don't think you'll cut off your finger." The man threw back his head and laughed as Inuyasha scowled and swore.

"Well…at least I can hurt you badly idiot!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran towards the man. The laughter disappeared from the enemy's face. He muttered something, and Inuyasha slowed down.

"What?" Inuyasha's eyes started glowing again.

"No!" Kagome gasped. Inuyasha halted and turned slowly to face Kagome. She saw that Inuyasha was under the spell again, and that he didn't recognize her. The masked man grasped the necklace around Inuyasha's neck and yanked. It didn't come off.

"You can give up," Kagome advised. "You can't take it off." The man grinned.

"You think." He withdrew an object from his robes. It was a fang. He tapped each of the beads on the necklace with the fang. Each one started glowing after he tapped it. When the man had tapped the final bead, he grasped the necklace and muttered something. Then, he braced himself and pulled. The beads resisted for a moment, but then shattered. Kagome gasped.

"NO! Now I can't make Inuyasha sit!" she thought desperately. "Inuyasha, SIT!" Kagome screamed. Nothing happened. The man smiled. He turned to Inuyasha.

"Now go. Kill the monk and the demon slayer." Inuyasha ran off into the depths of the forest. Kagome lay, limp with shock and hopelessness. She looked up at the figure.

"Who…" she whispered. "Who…are you?" The figure bent down to look Kagome in the face.

"I, girl," said the man, "am the Puppeteer." He stood up and left, leaving Kagome alone in the dark forest.

Part 3:

Inuyasha pounded through the forest. He burst right into the clearing Sango and Miroku were resting in. "Inuyasha!" Miroku said, standing up. "Where's-" He was cut off as Inuyasha almost sliced his arm off. He fell back in surprise. Sango leapt up, looking astonished.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Inuyasha ripped open Miroku's side. He slammed Miroku's head into the ground and left it there. Now Sango was looking angry. She took off her boomerang and threw it at Inuyasha. "I don't know what's gotten into you Inuyasha, but you're despicable!" Inuyasha dodged the boomerang. He flexed his claws. The boomerang stopped in midair and started coming back. Inuyasha turned around and attacked the weapon. The boomerang hit the ground. It cracked, then broke into two. Sango gasped. "No!" she thought. "My weapon!" Inuyasha turned around. He started running towards Sango. "I've got to run," she thought, and started running. Inuyasha jumped and sliced her back open. Sango cried out in pain and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Inuyasha awoke inside his mind. He tried to move, but couldn't. Then he felt warm blood streaming down his arm. He looked. Blood stained his front, and his claws were covered in it. He watched as he sliced Sango's back open. "NO!" he thought. His body turned around, facing the almost-dead Miroku. "I'm going to finish him off," Inuyasha realized. His hand was raised, ready to kill Miroku. "I can't let this happen!" Inuyasha thought desperately. He struggled with all his might, trying not to attack.

Shippo and Kirara stepped into the clearing. They saw Inuyasha, standing over Miroku, blood running down his arms, ready to deliver the final blow. "What is Inuyasha doing?" Shippo thought. Then he noticed something strange. Inuyasha's raised hand was moving. It was shaking, as though something was preventing it from attacking. Shippo looked around the clearing and saw Sango, lying dead, with her back sliced open. "I can't believe Inuyasha did this!" Shippo thought. Kirara saw Sango, and started snarling. She turned into her big form, screaming and snarling with rage. Inuyasha looked up, and ran. Kirara started chasing after him, but Inuyasha was too fast. He disappeared into the forest. Kirara stopped at Sango's body, turned into her small form, and started crying as a cat does. Shippo went over to Miroku. "Miroku," he sobbed, "you're dead. How can you die? Why did you let Inuyasha kill you and Sango? I thought you loved her." Shippo fell on his knees and started wailing.

"Sh…Shippo…" Shippo stopped crying and looked through his tears at Miroku.

"MIROKU! You're not dead?" Shippo stared at Miroku.

"No." Miroku smiled weakly. Shippo started jumping up and down.

"Kirara! Miroku's not dead!" he shouted gleefully. Kirara ran over to Miroku and Shippo. She started licking Miroku's sweat-beaded face.

"Sango…is she…is she dead?" Tears started running down Shippo's face.

"Yes," he whispered. Kirara mewed. "What? She's breathing?" Shippo ran over to Sango and put his ear next to her heart. "SHE'S ALIVE!" Shippo cried. Miroku closed his eyes.

"Is she badly injured Shippo?" Shippo nodded.

"Her back's sliced open." Miroku said something. "Miroku, what did you say?" Shippo asked.

"It must've been Inuyasha," Miroku muttered. Shippo clenched his fists.

"I can't believe him! How can he DO THIS?" Shippo looked at Miroku, crying with disbelief, relief, and frustration. "He would've killed you if Kirara didn't start chasing him." Miroku shook his head a little.

"When…when Inuyasha attacked us…his…his eyes were…glowing. Something must have been possessing him."

"Right! When we saw Inuyasha, he was about to kill you. But he looked as though he was struggling against something. He could've killed you instantly, but he didn't." Miroku frowned, then said:

"Shippo…I need you and Kirara to find help. If Sango and I don't get help soon…we'll…we'll die." Miroku groaned softly, and fell unconscious again. Shippo hopped onto Kirara's back, and they flew off to find help.

"Thank goodness I didn't kill Miroku," Inuyasha thought as he ran back to the Puppeteer. He arrived at the place where Kagome and the man were. Then man was nowhere in sight, but Kagome was lying at the base of a tree, crying. She looked up when she heard footsteps.

"INUYASHA!" she screamed. She tried to get up, but her injured leg couldn't move.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha cried silently, in his mind. His body wouldn't move, but he fought against the spell. Slowly, his foot moved forward. Then his other foot moved forward. He crouched down next to Kagome. Kagome stared at him. "Ka..go…me…" he said. Then…"Kagome, it's me, Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha?" she whispered. Suddenly, she heard someone moving behind her. She turned around. The Puppeteer walked out of the darkness beyond. Inuyasha got up and walked over to the man.

"So, Inuyasha, you're back. Did you kill the monk and demon-slayer?" Inuyasha nodded. "Good," said the masked man. "Come here, I have something that'll make you stronger." Inuyasha walked up to the Puppeteer. He started to put something over Inuyasha's neck, but Inuyasha grabbed his throat. The object slipped over Inuyasha's head, but he paid it no attention.

"So," Inuyasha snarled. "You made me kill Sango and Miroku. Well, I've broken your spell and I've decided that I'd rather kill you and have the ring stuck on me forever. He tightened his grip around the man's throat, making him choke. Inuyasha plunged his hand into the Puppeteer's body. He let go. The man fell to the ground, dead. Inuyasha smiled, wiping his hand on the man's robes. Suddenly, the ring glowed and started sliding off his finger because of the blood. It fell off, and broke. Inuyasha looked surprised. Then he turned around and rushed to Kagome's side. "Kagome! Are you all right?" Kagome looked up at him.

"I'm okay. Are…are they dead? Sango and Miroku?" Inuyasha looked away as he cut through the ropes binding Kagome.

"Yeah…well, I think Sango is. I sliced her back open. If she's still alive, it'll be a miracle."

"What about Miroku?" Kagome asked, eyes wide.

"No…he's not dead. Well, he wasn't dead when I left him. I don't know if he's dead now. I ripped his side out and almost cut off his arm. I'm pretty sure he has a lot of broken bones, and I might've damaged his head. But he WAS still alive." Inuyasha turned his eyes back to Kagome. She was staring at him with shock and horror.

"Oh…Inuyasha! How horrible!" She started crying again. Inuyasha turned away.

"You must hate me." Kagome hugged Inuyasha's back.

"No…no, I don't hate you. You didn't do it on your own. That man did it." Inuyasha faced Kagome and put his arms around her.

"Kagome…" he whispered. "I'm just glad I didn't kill you."

Shippo sat on Miroku's bed. The village women were feeding him some medicine and bandaging his wounds. Miroku smiled at a particularly pretty woman.

"Thank you, my lovely lady." The woman smiled and shushed him. Shippo looked at Sango. She was still unconscious, but her back was bandaged.

"Will she live?" Shippo asked.

"Yes," a woman replied. "It'll take a while, but she'll recover." Kirara was sleeping on one of the broken pieces of Sango's weapon. Suddenly, someone shouted from outside the house. All the women ran out to look. Shippo hopped off the bed and also went outside, Kirara following. Inuyasha stood in the middle of village with Kagome on his back.

"Go away demon! You're not welcomed here!" a man called, brandishing a stick. Inuyasha scowled.

"I just want to know if you have some seriously hurt people here!" he shouted. Kagome looked at the man.

"Please," she said softly, "we're looking for our friends. They're both at the point of dying." The man's expression softened when he saw Kagome. He stopped waving the stick around.

"You're hurt," he remarked. "Yes, I think your friends are here. Please come into the house," he said, pointing to the house where a bunch of women were standing. They all went inside. Inuyasha went in, and put Kagome on a bed. A woman started bandaging Kagome's leg.

"SANGO! MIROKU! They're here!" Kagome cried. She tried to get up, but the woman pushed her down and continued bandaging her leg.

"Kagome!" Miroku smiled. "You're alright! I was starting to think that Inuyasha killed you." Kagome smiled back at him.

"No, Inuyasha only injured my leg." Miroku looked over at Inuyasha. Inuyasha was sitting with his back to the beds, facing the wall.

"He still feels guilty," Kagome whispered. Inuyasha jumped up.

"I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY!" he shouted. He sat back down and turned around to face the wall.

"Inuyasha," Miroku said seriously. "What happened back in the forest? Why did you try to kill me and Sango?" Inuyasha didn't say anything.

"He was controlled by a weird guy. The guy was controlling Inuyasha by the ring." Miroku raised his eyebrows.

"The ring? Hmmm…" Miroku looked over at Inuyasha again.

"Inuyasha, why are you avoiding us? We don't blame you for trying to kill me and Sango." Inuyasha growled. He turned around.

"Do you know how HARD it is to face the people you've almost killed?" Inuyasha turned around and sat down. Miroku looked surprised.

"What…what happened?" Everybody looked at Sango. She rubbed her head. "Where…where am I?" She looked around the room. "Miroku! Kagome! You guys are alright!" Then she spotted Inuyasha. Her eyes hardened.

"I'm surprised you didn't kill me. Why didn't you?" Inuyasha looked away.

"I thought you were dead."

"So…why are you here now? Why aren't you far away? Or are you here to kill me and Miroku now, you murderous beast!" Inuyasha looked angry.

"Look, I didn't try to kill you on purpose!" Sango started to shout back, but Kagome cut her off.

"Sango, Inuyasha was being controlled by the ring. The man that was using the ring to control Inuyasha made him try to kill you and Miroku." Sango looked skeptical.

"Really?" Kagome nodded.

"Oh…I'm sorry Inuyasha." Inuyasha turned away.

"I'm glad I didn't kill you and Miroku," he muttered. Sango, Miroku, Kagome, and Shippo smiled. Kirara purred. Inuyasha turned to a woman.

"How long will it take them to recover?" he asked. The woman frowned and thought.

"It'll take the monk four weeks to recover if he's strong." she said. "As for the girl, it'll take her two weeks." Her frown deepened. "I'm not sure how long it will take the demon-slayer to recover, but it'll take a long time. Meanwhile, you and your friends should stay here until the your friends can at least walk."

"Can I show you to your room?" another young woman asked.

"Sure," Inuyasha replied, and followed her out of the room.


End file.
